Lido Restaurants and Food

ABOVE: Menus at an outdoor restaurant on the Gran
Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta.

Restaurants

The Lido isn't a mecca for gourmets (neither is Venice, for that
matter), but the island has plenty of restaurants where you can enjoy a pleasant
meal--often for less than you'd pay in Venice's historic center. Menus usually
feature Venetian and Italian cuisine (see our
Dining in the Veneto
article), and many restaurants also serve individual pizzas.

If
you're staying in the center of the Lido, you'll find a good assortment of
restaurants on the island's main business street, the Gran Viale Santa Maria
Elisabetta. (For an example, see the photo at the top of this page.) Just
walk up the street, read the menus, and choose any restaurant that strikes
your fancy and has an empty table.

Our
own favorite spot on the Gran Viale is the
Parco delle Rose, a garden restaurant and pizzeria that attracts a
nice mixture of locals and tourists. Prices are reasonable, the setting
is reminiscent of Copenhagen's Tivoli, and kids can play under the blossoming trees while their
parents relax over dinner. Read
Tripadvisor's reviews, and use these two photos to whet your appetite:

Another local favorite is
Bar Trento, a traditional family-owned osteria on Via Sandro Gallo (south of
the center, on the main road to Alberoni). This is the place to try baccalà
(salt cod), cuttlefish, and other Venetian specialties without paying big-city
prices.

For nightlife, hire a taxi or pedal your rented bike to
Pachuka, a beachfront restaurant,
pizzeria, and bar that offers music and dancing on summer weekends. (Pachuka
Beach is toward the northern end of the Lido, facing the Adriatic.)

Cafés and gelaterie

The Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta, the Lido's main
shopping street, is lined with cafés where you can get a drink, a snack, or
a sundae. Several of the cafés have gelato counters facing
the sidewalk, and you'll encounter one or two freestanding gelaterie.
(Prices for a cone or cup of gelato are slightly lower outside of the
central business district, on the way to the beach.)

Outdoor snack bars

The
Lido has a handful of outdoor snack stands that serve drinks, sandwiches,
and other edibles. They're mostly along the Lungomare Guglielmo Marconi and
the Lungomare Gabriele D'Annunzio, a.k.a. the long boulevard that runs
alongside the beaches on the Lido's Adriatic side.

On the beach

During
the warmer months, the public beach at the end of the Gran Viale Santa Maria
Elisabetta has a restaurant and bar with outdoor tables facing the water.
You can take off your shoes and wiggle your toes in the sand as you eat.
(Follow the signs for the Blue Moon restaurant and terrazza bar.)

Supermarket

The
best place to buy groceries (including cold cuts, excellent rolls, fruit,
drinks, and other picnic supplies) is the Conad
City
supermercato on the Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta,
slightly inland from the Lido S.M.E. waterbus station. The large, modern
supermarket is open daily from 7 a.m. (8 a.m. on Sundays) to 11 p.m.